Going Haywire
by Sarah Torrez
Summary: Sequel to Make a Name. Mari Mitchell's finally made it to the big time as Big Time Rush's drummer. But when Griffin asks Gustavo for something new, is that her cue to step up and be something more than she is?
1. Catching Up & Carlos' Bday

**Author's Note: Hello! Did you miss me? Does it seem like I write too much? Have you wondered if I have a life? I can tell you that during marching band season I do. That ended a few weeks ago. And once drama picks up, I will again. Right now, though, life's pretty slow. So I'm working on a bunch of different stories. If you're new and haven't read Make a Name and have no idea who Mari is, you can either visit my profile for a summary or read Make a Name. Or you can just figure it out through this story. Whatever floats your boat.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Big Time Rush. I do own Mari, though, and Tori.**

_Mari's POV_

Hi! I'm Mari Mitchell. The drummer for Big Time Rush, the twin of Big Time Rush member Logan Mitchell, and a very crazy (and irresponsible, if you ask my parents) teenage girl.

If you don't already know what happened let me give you the really, really, really, short version of my first few weeks in Hollywood.

Let's see. Kendall broke up with Jo, we went to a party, he got drunk, ended up being allergic, the stupid paparazzi got in our business, I almost went back to Minnesota, and then it turned out great for a few weeks. Yee-haw!

Anyway, a few months later, life started going crazy. I somehow managed to land an acting job (completely on accident; I didn't know I was trying out) and became in actress. My brother thought I was crazy, but hey, now I'm in a movie, too! I wasn't the lead, but I was the lead's best friend.

After the movie, my mom called me to tell me I was crazy and that I needed to focus on being a drummer. My dad told her to leave me alone. He's finally getting a backbone.

Logan's mellowed out. A lot. He trusts me more, and comes to me for advice way more than he used to. I'm not to Kendall's level, yet, but then again, I don't ever expect to be. That is a level that would take too much dedication.

Hm. Anything else…Oh. James thinks there's something wrong with his parents, but I think he's just being paranoid. Carlos is freaking out over Tori's first boyfriend. I think it's more to do with the fact that she got a boyfriend before he got a girlfriend.

Oh! Carlos decided to start writing songs. For some reason he's hiding it from the guys. I can't figure it out, but he told me and Katie and told us not to tell them. Whatever.

Other than that, I think nothing's changed. Now, to get to the interesting part.

It was Carlos' seventeenth birthday. A lot of people think he's the youngest, but he's actually the oldest of the group. It goes Carlos, James, Logan, me, and Kendall. Yup. Kendall's the youngest. Weird, right?

Logan and I had a present for Carlos. It'd been a month since the concert in Minnesota, and Carlos is yet again homesick. His parents finally agreed to letting Tori come out here. That was our present.

I had another one. Carlos doesn't tell many people, but he's a really good guitar player. I got him an awesome guitar. The funny part is that I got it for ten bucks from Kelly. Apparently she has a lot of guitars. I didn't ask.

Carlos was still in bed. Katie and I got the fun part of waking him up. You have to be careful waking up any of the guys, because James is the only morning person, and they have fast reflexes. So you have to throw something from across the room, or they try to kill you.

Or you could do what Katie and I were doing. We were going to be evil. See, Carlos likes any kind of music except one group. For some crazy reason, he does not like Rascal Flatts. I had learned the guitar part to 'Life is a Highway' and Katie and I were going to sing it very loudly and out of tune.

That was the plan, anyway. But when we went into the room, Carlos was already awake, typing on his computer. We hadn't planned on that. I nodded at Katie and we decided to do it anyway.

I started playing the guitar, scaring Carlos. He hadn't heard us come in. He raised an eyebrow at us. Then we started singing and he grabbed his pillow and threw at us. It hit me full on in the face and knocked me a step backwards.

The song stopped. Katie was laughing too hard, and I had dropped my guitar pick somewhere. Carlos started laughing, too. I could hear Kendall laughing out in the hallway, too. James had continued singing the song. I didn't know what Logan was doing.

"Happy birthday!" Katie and I yelled. I grabbed the guitar pick off the floor and we ran out of the room, nearly knocking Kendall over.

"Sorry!" I yelled, going to the room I shared with Katie and putting my guitar down.

"Mari! Don't put your guitar away!" Logan's voice came from the hallway. He appeared in the hallway. "Come on. We want to sing to Carlos."

I grabbed my guitar again, put it on, and started playing instead the guitar part for 'Don't Stop Believing.' Carlos stared at me as I skipped past him. Playing the guitar and skipping at the same time is a skill that requires a lot of concentration. And it's not easy to do at all. Like marching band.

I froze at the thought of marching band. James ran into me from behind.

"Sorry!" I said to him. He grinned and we went into the living room.

Carlos was, as usual, the last one out of the bedrooms. He walked into the living room, still carrying his laptop. He was seriously obsessed with the thing. I have yet to figure out what was so interesting that he had to stare at it all the time.

I started strumming a random tune. Logan raised an eyebrow at me and I realized that I was strumming the theme song to Hannah Montana.

"Don't judge me," I told him. He smiled.

Mrs. Knight nodded at me and I started playing 'Happy Birthday.'

"Happy birthday to you," we started singing and Carlos jumped and nearly dropped his computer. Then he grinned and put his computer down. When we finished the song, Katie held a stack of pancakes covered in whipped cream and strawberries to his face. He blew out the candle that was on top. We clapped for him and Katie put the pancakes down next to his laptop. He sat down and the rest of us helped ourselves to the other pancakes.

After breakfast, we decided to give Carlos his presents. Mostly because he was bouncing up and down with excitement. Kendall got Carlos a new hockey stick (he'd broken his old one. Long story), James had gotten Carlos a new Selena Gomez CD (she was his favorite recording artist of the month), and Katie and Mrs. Knight had given Carlos a gift card to Sonic, one of Carlos' favorite restaurants.

I gave him the guitar. He literally freaked out and started playing it immediately.

"Logan, where's your gift?" Carlos asked him. He looked at me. I winked.

"Mari and I split the cost," he told Carlos. "Mari, are you going to go pick it up?"

I nodded and grabbed my truck keys. Carlos looked really excited.

I drove to the airport. I couldn't help but grin. Carlos was going to wonder that was going on.

Finally, after being delayed because of a thunderstorm, Tori's flight landed two hours late. She came running out and gave me a huge hug.

"I can't wait to see him!" she squealed. "Does he know I'm coming?"

I shook my head. "Nope. All he knows is that Logan and I split the cost and I had to go pick it up. Except I've been gone for more than two hours. So he might have gotten out of Logan. But I doubt it."

Tori hugged me again and we headed toward my truck. She didn't have very much luggage, but she had saved up her allowance for the past six months. She apparently thought she would be coming out to LA and wanted some money to spend. So, Tori asked me to take her shopping. I did.

Finally, five hours after I left to pick Tori up, we went to the Palm Woods. I sent a text to Logan, telling him that we were coming up. He replied, telling me that they were distracting Carlos.

I grabbed her luggage and put it down outside the apartment. Tori bounced up and down as I unlocked the door. I told her in sign language to stay and then went in the apartment.

"Mari!" Carlos spotted me immediately. "Where's my present? Why were you gone for like four hours?"

"Five, actually," I grinned. "Your present was later than expected due to a thunderstorm. But it got here safe and soundly."

"What is it?" Carlos whined. Kendall and James, who had no idea, looked interested.

I held up a finger and went to the door. I opened it to reveal Tori standing there.

"Tori!" Carlos literally squealed like a little kid and hugged his sister.

"Carlos!" Tori exclaimed, hugging her brother back.

"Aw," James pretended to cry. "Almost makes me want a sibling."

"Almost," I teased.

"Speaking of your family, your parents want you to call them," Mrs. Knight told James. He raised an eyebrow, then got distracted by the TV. Their music video for 'Till I Forget About You' was on.

The day ended with a huge party at Rocque Records. Gustavo had let me organize it, as long as I was the DJ. For some reason he didn't trust anyone else with his equipment. The party ended around eleven o'clock and we dragged ourselves back to the Palm Woods to sleep.

Little did I know that the next day was going to be crazy. Stupid Hollywood.

**Author's Note: I suck at cliff hangers. That's not really one, is it? Oh, well. This story will go much slower than Make a Name. Mostly 'cause I'm adopting another story that I like a lot. I haven't come up with a name for it yet. But it's gonna be awesome. I hope. Thanks for reading!**


	2. A New Project

**Author's Note: See? Normal-ish updating. There's something really messed up about my 'K' key, so if Kelly, Katie, or Kendall's name is missing a K, I'm really sorry. In other news...I have no other news...Uh. Kendall's hot. So is Carlos. And James. And Logan. Ta-da?**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it. I do own Mari. And Tori.**

_Gustavo's POV_

"Stupid coffee machine!" I yelled. Kelly came up behind me. I turned toward her. She gasped when she saw my coffee-covered face. She didn't say anything, but she handed me a towel.

We went back to the studio as I cleaned my face. I sat down at the piano. I was in the middle of writing a new song.

After about fifteen minutes of me playing the piano and Kelly bobbing her head and doing paperwork, we heard someone clear their throat behind us. I held back the urge to turn and scream at the person. Instead I just turned around.

It was Griffin. I groaned inwardly. Usually this means problems for me.

"What?" I asked, trying my hardest not to be rude. See? I am learning.

"My research team did research," he started. I stopped the urge to laugh loudly. From the look of her face, Kelly was fighting it, too.

"And they said that Big Time Rush is doing great," Griffin said.

"Okay?" I was confused. Why was he here then?

"But," Griffin started, and I sighed. "They also say that they're doing great with girls. Boys like girl bands better than boy bands."

Gee, why doesn't that surprise me?

"Boys like artists such as Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Victoria Justice," Griffin continued.

"I'm sorry, what's the point of this?" I asked loudly. This was getting annoying.

"I want you to start a new band," Griffin told me.

"What do you mean a new band?" I asked, surprised.

"Add another band with Big Time Rush," Griffin said. "With girls. Preferably all girls. It can be Big Time Rush's sister band!" he looked at me. "I want to see them as soon as possible."

In Griffin-speak, that usually means in two weeks. Which meant I had to put a band together in two weeks. Of all girls.

Griffin left. I stared after him.

"Kelly?" I said. She turned to me. "I don't know how to do a band with girls."

"We'll figure it out," she patted my shoulder. "Do you want me to get the guys here for recording?"

"No," I said. "Call them and tell them they have the week off. I need to concentrate on this girl band."

"What about Mari?" Kelly asked.

"What about her?" I asked, distracted.

"Well, she _is_ a girl," Kelly pointed out. I froze.

"Get her here, then!" I ordered. Kelly rolled her eyes and called Mari.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Mari's POV_

"What?" I asked as I walked into the studio. Gustavo looked desperate. I raised an eyebrow.

"Griffin wants me to get a new band," he told me.

"You mean _instead_ of Big Time Rush, or _with_ Big Time Rush?" I asked, slightly confused.

"With," Gustavo clarified. "And it has to be all girls."

"What are you saying?" I asked, suspicious. I didn't like the sound of this.

"We talked about it and we want you to be the lead singer," Gustavo said. I froze.

"You want me to be a lead singer?" I gasped.

"We've been told you can sing," Kelly informed me.

"Who told you?" I nearly growled.

"Why do you want to know?" Gustavo asked, looking kind of worried.

"So I can kill them later!" I glared at them.

"Well, then, that information is classified," Gustavo said. I rolled my eyes. "Mari, we don't know how to do this. Not with girls, anyway. Please?"

Wait a minute. Did Gustavo Rocque just say _please_? The Gustavo Rocque? Really? Wow, he must be desperate.

"Fine," I gave in. It didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Thanks," Gustavo looked grateful.

"But I have a few conditions," I suddenly had inspiration.

"What?" Kelly asked.

"I get to approve of each member," I said. "They have to play either the drums, guitar, bass guitar, or keyboard. We need one person on each instrument at all times. And they all have to be able to sing."

Gustavo nodded slowly.

"And I get to write our songs," I added quickly. Gustavo actually looked happy about that.

"You can name it, too," he promised. I grinned. I might actually like this.

"Don't tell the guys yet, okay?" Kelly said. "This is kind of a surprise."

"Got it," I saluted her. Then I started thinking of who could be in the band. Let's see. Well, Katie could play the drums. But I didn't know of anyone else who could be in this band.

When I told Gustavo this, he sighed.

"We'll have to make it a contest," he said. "Send out advertisements about this. They can send in an audition tape."

I nodded. This was going to be interesting.

Gustavo gave me the job of sending out the advertisements. The media kind of feels like they owe for a few big misunderstandings a while ago. Meaning they spread rumors about me. But that's not important now.

I headed back to the apartment. I was almost too preoccupied to notice Katie standing in front of the swirly slide staring at it. Logan and James were at the top, trying to do who knows what.

Apparently Katie knew what they were trying to do. She turned to me, laughing. I noticed Tori was sitting on the couch, watching, too.

"Uh," I pointed at the slide. "What happened?"

"Carlos and Kendall are stuck inside," Katie started laughing even harder. I went to the bottom of the slide and looked up. Kendall and Carlos looked down at her and made a face at her.

"Well, while they're doing that, Katie, I have something to ask you," I said, taking her into the kitchen area.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, it's like this," I started.

**Author's Note: I didn't feel like typing the whole story out...Lazy me. Anyway, I have another story I kinda want to introduce. But I can't come up with a name for it. I haven't written a summary for it yet, but here's a small summary basically:**

**Carlos has been kidnapped. Everyone except him knows this. See, he can't remember anything. He doesn't know he's been kidnapped and that the man he's living with is lying to him about everything. He doesn't know he has a family that's praying for him to come home, or that his friends are frantically searching the entire continent. How do you save someone who doesn't know they're missing?**

**That's the long version, I guess. I don't know. It's called Can't Remember right now. But I don't really like that...So, if you've got any better ideas, I am literally begging you to tell me it. In a review, in a message, I don't really care. And I love you! Yay!**


	3. Picking the Members

**Author's Note: Argh! I'm not feeling this story for some reason. Any suggestions? Seriously? I'm freaking out here!**

**Disclaimer: Ah, if only I owned Big Time Rush. Carlos would be mine. So would the other three.**

_Mari's POV_

I yawned and then ate a handful of popcorn. Katie, Gustavo, Kelly, and I were watching audition tapes for our band (we haven't come up with a name for it).

"This girl has absolutely no personality," Katie groaned.

"Or she's scared out of her mind," I said. The girl was talking in monotone to the camera. "Either way, she's out. How many more videos?"

"A hundred or so," Kelly answered.

"Ugh, kill me," Katie sunk down in her chair.

Kelly started another tape. It started with a very, very loud guitar chord. We jumped and Katie fell out of her seat.

A bright blue eye appeared on the screen.

"You awake yet?" a voice answered. "Yes? Good."

A girl appeared on the screen. She had long, brown hair, blue eyes, and a pale complexion. But that wasn't what mattered.

"I'm Natalie Anderson," the girl said. "I'm sixteen. I'm a keyboard player mostly, but I can play piano and drums, too."

I raised an eyebrow and sat up straight. Natalie seemed cool. She continued talking, showing us pictures and videos.

Then she started playing and singing. She was amazing! I mean, I thought that if she could play a few chords or something on the piano and guitar, we'd be cool. But she was so much better than that!

"I like her," Kelly said.

"Me, too," I agreed. Katie nodded. Gustavo wasn't paying attention anymore.

Kelly put a check mark next to Natalie's name in her list of girls.

The next one started. The girl looked like she had some facial hair problems.

A few seconds later, I found out why.

"Oh, my God, that's a guy!" Katie cracked up. I stared at the screen. Katie was right. It was a guy on the screen. He seemed to think this was a joke.

Kelly was too shocked to stopped the video. I started laughing.

The video ended, but Katie and I continued laughing.

"This is getting ridiculous," I finally managed, wiping a tear from my eyes.

"Let's go on," Gustavo suggested. Kelly nodded.

An hour later, we had picked a bass guitarist (Ally Goodman, a very hyper girl) and a guitarist (Christina Daniels; she seemed to have an attitude problem). Kelly had me and Katie write out congratulations and sent them out to the girls.

"Can we tell the guys now?" I asked. Kelly nodded. Katie and I headed toward the Palm Woods.

"So, what's bothering you?" Katie asked me. I jumped.

"When did you become so perceptive?" I asked her. She shrugged. I sighed. "I'm just worried about the girls not getting along. I mean, they're so different."

"So are the guys," Katie pointed out. "See how well they get along?"

"Good point," I nodded. We walked into the apartment to find Carlos and Tori randomly singing into their hands while James tried to talk on the phone. Logan was somehow managing to concentrate on his book, and Kendall had his iPod in.

"What?" James yelled and ran off to his bedroom.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kendall asked loudly. I pointed to my ears. He took out his headphones.

"He sounded upset," I told him.

"Are you crazy?" James' voice came from the hallway. He must have gone into the bedroom he shared with Kendall just then, because a door slammed, scaring Carlos and Tori.

"Hi," Katie waved. Tori waved back.

"Argh!" I suddenly yelled out.

"What?" Logan said, looking at me.

"I can't get 'Worldwide' out of my head!" I grabbed my head.

"Don't you like that song?" Carlos asked.

"Doesn't your favorite song get annoying occasionally when you hear it in your head over and over again for two days?" I asked innocently. Carlos shrugged.

"So, what's up?" Kendall asked us.

"Well, let's see," I pretended to be thinking. "James just ran off, Logan's reading a book, Carlos' voice sounds scratchy."

I stopped and looked at him. He rubbed his neck, self-conscious, and got a drink of water.

"You," I pointed at Kendall, "talk very loudly when you're listening to your iPod. Logan has the amazing ability to completely ignore you guys, and Katie and I are starting a band."

I said the last part so fast I don't know how anyone but Katie caught it. Actually, I think Tori was the only other one who did.

"You're starting a band?" Tori looked excited. "That's so cool! What's it going to be called? What are you singing? Who's in it?"

Logan looked confused.

"Slow down," I said. "Me, Katie, and three other girls who auditioned through tapes are going to be in it. We have no clue what it's going to be called or what we're singing."

"Does Mom know?" Kendall asked. Katie nodded, rolling her eyes. I smiled at Kendall.

"Wait a second," Carlos said. "You can't have two drummers, can you?"

"No," Katie shook her head. "We don't."

"But you said you two were in it," Carlos pointed at me.

"Yup," I nodded. "Except I'm the lead singer."

Logan raised an eyebrow. Kendall grinned.

"Since when are you a singer?" Tori asked, giving me her 'Really?' look. It was eerily close to Carlos' 'Don't-lie' look. I wondered if Logan and I were like that.

That thought distracted me. As Tori started to walk past me, I suddenly realized something.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" I called after her as she shut the door. Katie snorted.

"Easily distracted much?" Logan mumbled.

"Eh, shut up," I grinned at him. He started reading again. Carlos fell down on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

James stormed out of the hallway and started pacing around me in a circle. He accidentally knocked Katie over, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Can I help you?" I asked, spinning so I was always facing him. Finally I stepped in his path.

"What's up?" I stared at him. He stared back at me. He looked freaked.

James began muttering in Italian. I don't know where he learned it, but I didn't speak much of it. I only know three words: 'pregnant,' 'kill,' and…I can't say the last word (my grandpa's friend is Italian. And sadistic).

So when he said one of the words I knew, I froze.

"I know that word!" I pointed at him. "You said 'pregnant!' Why did you say that?"

"'Pregnant?'" Logan looked up.

"Mari!" he glared at me.

"James!" I glared back. "Is your mom pregnant or something?"

He sighed and sank to the floor. I joined him.

"Yeah," he finally admitted. "My mom is pregnant. Three months. See? I told you something was up!"

I shrugged. He was right.

"Aw!" Katie grinned. "You're gonna get a sibling!"

"You'll no longer be the only member of Big Time Rush without a sibling," Kendall teased. James stared at Kendall.

"Okay!" I jumped up. "You guys explain to him what's going on with me and Katie, I'm gonna go do something."

I left before they could say anything. I was bored, and I wanted something new. You know, new project, new…something or other. I didn't know what I was doing yet.

But, I was gonna have fun doing it. Even if it killed me.

**Author's Note: Ha. Having fun can kill. Funny. Anyway, I really like the title Gone But Not Forgotten from WWE-Little-Angel. That's probbaly what I'll call it. But if you have any ideas, or any ideas for this story, feel free to submit them. Gracias!**


	4. Cool, Goth, and Hyper

**Author's Note: Argh. Stupid writer's block. Stupid bridge chapters. Stupid introduction chapters. Okay, I'm better now! I don't really like this chapter, but the next few should be good. And I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Again, writer's block.**

**Disclaimer: Shut up.**

_Mari's POV_

I bounced in anticipation. It was the day that the girls were supposed to show up. I was in the lobby, waiting for them and trying really hard not to freak out.

Camille came up to me.

"I love your hair like that!" she gasped at the new red streaks in my hair. It had taken me forever to decide what I wanted, but I liked my hair like this now. The streaks weren't the natural hair color red, either. Nope, they were bright red. Bright, I-hate-my-mother red. Except I was doing it for the heck of it. Not that rebelling wasn't something I hadn't considered doing. Or did on a regular basis.

Anyway, I started pacing. I was really nervous.

"You know, when you pace, you make me tired," Camille told me. I raised an eyebrow and stopped.

"There you go, that's better," she nodded. I had to smile. "So what's up?" she asked. "Why are you so nervous?"

"'Cause I don't know if the girls are going to get along and I don't need more drama and I've never been a lead singer before and I'm worried these girls will think I'm stupid and hate me," I said this very fast and then took a deep breath. I was going to continue, but Camille stopped me.

"You can't control any of that," she reminded me.

"And that's what makes me nervous," I told her. "I'm afraid that our band won't even make it off the ground before it crashes and burns."

"Really?" Camille sat down next to me. "You just need to relax. If it doesn't work out, it' doesn't work out."

I raised an eyebrow. I forgot that Camille had a hard time getting acting jobs. She has this attitude, like when things go wrong, it doesn't bother her like it bothers other people. Unless it involves Logan. The girl's crazy about him.

A girl walked in the door. I recognized her as Natalie.

"Wow," she gasped. I walked over to her. She looked at me. "You're Mari Mitchell!"

"Yup," I nodded, grinning. "And you're Natalie Anderson!"

She nodded. "This place is so cool. I've heard it's awesome, but this is more than I expected.

"Mari!" Logan suddenly ran up to me. "Have you seen Carlos?"

"No," I shook my head. "What did he do?"

"I don't know, but James is flipping out about it," Logan said. He noticed Natalie, who had her mouth wide open. She closed it quickly.

"Logan, this is Natalie Anderson, a member of my band," I introduced them. "Natalie, this is my twin brother Logan."

"Hi," Logan smiled. Natalie shook his hand and smiled back.

"Okay, my life is complete," she said as Logan walked away. "I have met my favorite celebrity. I can die happy now."

I raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh. Natalie cracked up.

"Just kidding," she giggled. "But your brother is hot. So is Kendall. And Carlos and James."

"You'll meet the other three in a bit," I promised. Just then, Christina walked in. She noticed me and walked over.

"I assume I'm supposed to talk to you," she said, sounding bored.

"Christina Daniels," I nodded. She held a hand up.

"Call me Chris," she said. "My name is Christina, but if anyone calls me that, they're getting hit in the face. You call me Chris."

She walked away. Natalie glanced at me.

"Well, isn't she just a ray of sunshine?" she joked. I rolled my eyes.

About ten minutes later, in walked Ally Goodman. She screamed as soon as she walked in.

"Oh, my gosh!" she ran over to me and Natalie. "You're Mari! Oh, my gosh! Where are the guys? Oh, my gosh!"

"I take it back," Natalie whispered in my ear. "I like Goth girl better."

I smiled and shook my head.

Natalie and Ally checked in. Ally nearly fainted when Logan came up to me again.

"Is she okay?" Logan asked, looking at her.

"You know, I'm not really sure," I said, looking down at Ally.

This was going to be an interesting group.

**Author's Note: Lame ending, sorry. I suddenly ran out of things to say and pulled this out thin air. Yup. Anyway, now the fun starts, 'cause we got all the girls there. Yay!**


	5. Did You See Her?

**Author's Note: Darn it! I meant to update sooner again. For those of you reading 'Gone But Not Forgotten,' I will update today. That is a promise. Anyway, this chapter kind of jumps around a bit. Yee-haw!**

**Disclaimer: *sigh***

_James' POV_

I walked down to the pool area to work on my tan to find Carlos standing just inside the lobby, looking out into the pool area with a stupid look on his face. I couldn't figure out what his face was meant.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, coming up behind him, looking out with him.

"Do you see her?" Carlos asked in an awed voice. I raised an eyebrow.

"I see lots of 'hers.' There's Mari, Camille, the Jennifers, Katie, that one girl right there, Stephanie-," I said, but Carlos stopped me.

"Just shut up," he sighed, obviously irritated. He walked away.

"Which 'her' was it?" I yelled after him. He didn't turn around. I looked out into the pool area and saw a total of four new girls. For all I knew he could have been talking about someone who wasn't new.

"Darn it, Carlos!" I muttered.

"Why are you darning Carlos?" Mari asked, her expression slightly confused. I tried not to laugh at her wording. She shook her head. "Yeah, that didn't come out right. What's wrong?"

"Carlos is what's wrong," I sighed and walked away.

"Okay?" Mari called after me. "Good talk. Right."

I smirked as I got on the elevator, then groaned. I had just done exactly what Carlos had done to me to Mari. Man, that was frustrating.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Kendall's POV_

I sat down across the table from Carlos, who was staring at who knows what in the pool area. He had a slightly dreamy look on his face and I couldn't help wondering who he was staring at.

I tried to talk to him. He didn't listen to me. In fact, he completely ignored me. I decided I had to go to my last resort and be as dramatic as possible.

"Oh, how I miss having a girlfriend," I turned in my chair and laid my head on the table, looking straight up at Carlos.

"That's great," Carlos said dreamily. I stared at him.

"Are you even listening to me?" I asked, poking his arm.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he replied as he got up and walked away.

"Wow," I sighed. "He just totally ignored me."

"Who are you talking to?" Mari asked, walking by.

"The ghost of Casper," I answered, not really thinking that through.

"Uh, isn't Casper already a ghost?" Mari asked. I sighed.

"Right," I smacked my own forehead. I looked up at Mari. "Hey, uh, do you think you could talk to Carlos? He totally ignored me."

"Yeah, James said something like that, too," Mari nodded.

"Really?" I asked.

"Well, actually, I asked him what was wrong, and he said, 'Carlos is what's wrong,' and walked away," Mari said. "So I'm just taking a wild guess here."

I smirked. "Will you talk to him, then?"

"Sure," she nodded, walking toward the elevator. "Got nothing better to do."

"Isn't your band supposed to show up today?" I asked loudly.

"Shut up," she said as the elevator doors closed. I raised an eyebrow.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Mari's POV_

I skipped into 2J, being careful to jump over Katie, who was randomly laying on the ground, staring at the ceiling.

"If you're looking for lover boy, he's in the living room, staring out the window," Katie pointed.

"I can see that," I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. She shrugged.

_Lover boy?_

I walked to the window, scaring Carlos when I poked him.

"Whoa!" he jumped, nearly hitting me in the face. Luckily he missed.

"What you looking at?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, staring out the window again.

"Right," I nodded. "Nothing. That makes sense."

The door opened and in walked Kendall. He stared at his sister, but didn't say anything, and walked to the couch. He returned my confused look and shrugged.

"Carlos," I said warningly.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"What are you looking at?" I repeated. "Tell me or I might have to attack."

He turned to me, his eyes wide. I have two techniques for getting things out of the guys. One is incessant tickling. The other is using my music to torture them. Carlos is the hardest to torture with music, but I had Rascal Flatts, and I was not afraid to use it.

"Fine," he sighed and pointed out the window. "See her?"

I looked where he was pointing and sighed.

"Yes, I see her," I told him. "Her name is Natalie."

"How do you know?" Carlos asked.

"I have the power to read minds," I deadpanned. Kendall snorted.

"Seriously, how do you know?" Carlos grabbed my arm.

"Let go!" I pulled away. "She's in my band. She plays keyboard."

Carlos looked down at the pool again. I recognized the look on his face and groaned.

"So, let me get this straight," I turned him to face me. "You're in love with a girl you haven't even met yet?"

"Yup, pretty much," Carlos nodded.

"See, this is why Logan is the only one with a girlfriend," I said. Logan, who had just walked out of his bedroom, stopped and turned toward me, a confused look on his face.

"Why?" Kendall seemed offended.

"Because he actually got to know the girl first," I rolled my eyes.

"Hey!" Tori walked in the room. "Hey, Carlos, Mom says I need to leave in a few days."

That snapped Carlos out of it.

"Why?" he whined slightly.

"School starts next week in Minnesota," Tori explained. "And as much as I'd love to, I can't go to the Palm Woods school. I don't have a job in TV or music."

"Could we get you one?" Carlos asked hopefully.

"Sorry, bro," Tori said. "I love you, but all my friends are back in Minnesota."

Carlos now had a puppy dog face. Unluckily for him, it didn't work on Tori, and she went into the bedroom she was sharing with me and Katie.

"What were we talking about?" he asked me and Kendall. We exchanged a look and shrugged. Carlos sighed and got up, leaving the room.

"What were you talking about?" Logan asked.

"Don't worry about it," I told him.

**Author's Note: Aww...Poor Mari. And Carlos. And Tori. Oh! Thank you to the three of you who actually voted on my poll. I plan on leaving it open for two more chapters, so go vote! Yay!**


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